The Saramaka Peace Treaty in Sranan: An edition of the 1762
text
(including a copy of the original manuscript)

Jacques Arends, Universiteit
van Amsterdam

Margot van den Berg,
Universiteit van Amsterdam

Introduction

The text presented here
is the Sranan version of the Saramaka Peace Treaty, which was signed on September 19,
1762, at the junction of SaraCreek and the Suriname
River, between the
Saramaka Maroons on the one hand and the Dutch colonial government on the
other. While the Dutch text of the treaty has been accessible ever since it was
published in Hartsinck (1770:802-9), the Sranan text as it was actually read to
the Saramaka – most of whom did not know Dutch – at the time of the
negotiations remained unknown until it was published recently by Hoogbergen and
Polimé (2000).[1][1][2][2]
Unfortunately, their edition is marred by a large number of errors, concerning
both transcription and interpretation.[3][3] Therefore, we decided to prepare a new
transcription, based, of course, on the same original manuscript text.[4][4] As pointed out by Hoogbergen & Polimé
(2000:226), the Dutch text of the treaty exists in two versions, one that does
and one that does not contain the Saramaka’s responses to the clauses of the
treaty. Let us call the former ‘version I’ and the latter ‘version II’. The
Sranan version corresponds to version I.[5][5] Our transcription of the Sranan text is
accompanied by a translation into English, which – keeping in mind that the
text is primarily of interest to creolists – has been kept as literal as
possible, so as to enable readers who do not know Sranan to reconstruct the
structure of the Sranan text from the translation.

As to the authorship of the Sranan text, most likely it
should be ascribed to Louis Nepveu, the colonial government’s delegate to the
negotiations that were held with the Saramaka in March and April 1762. In his
report of these negotiations, Nepveu notes that, in explaining the terms of the
treaty to the Saramaka, he ‘translated the articles of the treaty word for word
into Negro-English [Sranan] for them’ (De Beet & Price 1982:121-2). Nepveu,
who was to sign the treaty later that year, had also been the government’s
spokesman in an earlier – failed –attempt to make peace with the Saramaka in 1749. According to lieutenant
Creutz’s journal of that earlier expedition, Nepveu was the one ‘who was
understood best by [the Saramaka]’ (De Beet & Price 1982:66). De Beet &
Price (1982:197n2) refer to Nepveu’s ‘extraordinary knowledge of Sranan and his
ease in communicating with the Saramaka’. It should be noted, however, that what
Nepveu spoke was probably bakra tongo(lit. ‘Whites’ language’), the variety of Sranan spoken by the
Europeans, rather than nengre tongo (lit. ‘Blacks’ language’). Whatever
may be the case, it should be noted that the Europeans apparently were not
sufficiently acquainted with Saramaccan, the Saramaka’s creole language closely
related to but not mutually intelligible with Sranan, to be able to negotiate
with them in that language.

In the original manuscript the text is divided into two
parts: the second part (ff. 180 vo – 183 vo) is formed by
the actual clauses of the treaty as they were formulated by the colonial
government, while the first part (ff. 177 vo – 179 vo)
consists of the responses by the Saramaka Maroons.[6][6] In the edition presented here we have
merged the two parts into one (i.e. every clause is followed by the Saramaka’s
response) so as to achieve a more natural, integral text. The distinction
between the two parts has been preserved typographically by using two different
fonts: roman script for the ‘government part’, italic script for the ‘Saramaka
part’. Strictly speaking, there is a third part, namely that following the last
clause (clause 15). In this part of the text the actual signing of the treaty
is described, including the names of the captains (village headmen) who signed
the treaty. To distinguish it from the remainder of the text, this part is
printed in bold. The only other emendations we have made in our transcription
concern punctuation, including the use of ligatures, diacritics, and
capitalization. The highly erratic punctuation of the original manuscript has
been replaced by a more regular one, designed to enhance the overall
readibility of the text. Apart from that, however, the transcription presented
here is faithful to the original text (including the occasional placement of an
acute accent above the letter <u>, as in, e.g.,frigúittie ‘forget’). Those few cases
where we are uncertain about the reading and/or the interpretation of the
manuscript have been indicated by ‘(xxx)’ and ‘(???)’, respectively.

This is not the place to go into the fascinating but
highly complex historical context in which the conclusion of the treaty took
place. Therefore, we restrict ourselves here to referring the reader to the
most relevant literature on this topic: De Beet & Price (1982) is a
collection of relevant historical documents, preceded by an excellent summary
of the events leading up to and surrounding the 1762 treaty. It also contains
two maps indicating the location of several relevant spots, including the place
where the treaty was signed. (An English translation of De Beet & Price
1982 has appeared as Price 1983b.) The Saramaka’s point of view, preserved in
their oral history, is represented in Price (1983a, especially pp. 167-81).
Dragtenstein (2002), the most extensive general history of marronnage in Suriname to date, contains a chapter (pp. 221-34) on the
Saramaka Peace Treaty. Finally, Hoogbergen & Polimé (2000) also provide some
useful historical information.

Together with the Sranan text of the 1863 placard
announcing the abolition of slavery in Suriname (published in Helstone & Vernooij 2000:44-9),
the Sranan version of the Saramaka Peace Treaty belongs to the core documents in
the history of Suriname. As such, these texts deserve to be made more
widely available, which is what one of us intends to do in a later publication
(Arends in prep.). The transcription presented here, however, serves a more
limited purpose, namely to make this text available to the community of
creolists as one more addition to the ever growing corpus of early Surinamese
Creole texts in the hope it will contribute to a better understanding of the
history of creole languages and societies in Suriname and beyond.

References

Arends, Jacques, in prep. Creole Mama: A
history of the creole languages of Suriname.

Bilby, Kenneth, 1997. Swearing by the past,
swearing by the future: Sacred oaths, alliances, and treaties among the
Guianese and Jamaican Maroons. Ethnohistory 44:655-89.

They should continue to live right there where they have
their villages now, but when they wish to go live at some other place, they
should inform the Governor and they should not move until they have received a
message back (informing them) whether they can make their village somewhere
else.

The treasurer shall pay them fifty guilders in Surinamese
money – that is forty-two shilling – but if they capture them close-by, on a
plantation, they shall get between ten and forty-two shilling,depending on whether they will have captured
them far away or close to Paramaribo.

And for that reason, even if our slaves may wish to say
they ran away because their master or the Whites did them harm, the Bush
Saramaka should return them when they come in their hands, because only the
Governor and the Court should take care of that.

And when one of them should want (to do) that or anything
that is bound to break this peace, then all the others should hand him over to
the Whites so the Whites can do with him whatever they will think will be
right.

And if a captain in your midst does something like that and they are
afraid to capture him because he has a powerful charm, they should inform the
Governor so he can send a military command to go fight and capture him.

If the Governor or the Court sends them a message saying
that Blacks ran away or caused trouble on the plantations and orders them to
come help capture them, you should go capture them and bring them to
Paramaribo; then they will get their payment.

If the colony should get in a war with another nation, whether they are
Whites or other Maroons, whoever or wherever they may be, then you Saramaka
Free Blacks should come help the Whites, for the sake of Suriname.

And they should not fail to send as many armed men as the
Governor and the Court will ask to the place the Governor will (have somebody)
tell them, and to obey the person the Governor will appoint to lead them, to
help the Whites any way they can.

Even if the Bush Negroes behind Auka or the Mapana Blacks,[15]
who already made peace with the Whites, should wish to make trouble or do bad things
to the Whites, then they should help the Whites to go fight them and capture
them, or to make them become friends with the Whites and stick strictly to the
peace.

When anything should occur among them that they should
report so the Governor will know, then they will be permitted to send five or
six of them, and when they arrive in Paramaribo
they should go to the Governor immediately and they will not be permitted to go
anywhere unless the Governor knows.

And when your people will bring run-away Blacks or
(other) people they captured to Paramaribo,
then they should collect their money right-away, and they will have to take
care of their food themselves without the Whites having to give them any.

Every year fifty of you will be permitted to come to the
Saramaka River, as far as Wanica Creek, or to Arwaticabo Creek, or to the
Suriname River, as far as Victoria, to bring everything they will have to sell,
such as hammocks, cotton, wood, fowl, dug-out canoes, or anything (else).

And when they will come to Paramaribo
with the things they wish to sell, then they should inform the Governor in
advance, and once they are in Paramaribo
they will not be permitted to be out after eight
o’clock at night, so that they will not perhaps get in trouble with
Whites who may think they are slaves.

Should they perhaps get into a quarrel with a White or
should a White do them any harm, they should inform the Governor, and when he
feels this person is right, he shall make sure justice will be done.

Especially if one of them does or wishes to do something
to break this peace or if one of them does bad things to the Whites, the Whites
will be permitted to capture them and punish them just like they do with other
Free Blacks.

They
all took an oath to God and to the land, entirely according to their custom,[25]
saying that this is how they will stick to the peace, and they will make
everybody do so just like we wrote it down, until they die.

[7] Since the word frie
covers both the meanings of ‘peace’ and ‘treaty’, we have chosen to translate
it by either one, depending on the context.

[8] Presumably, an erroneous
second occurrence of the word dem was crossed out here.

[10]dem engre foe Ouwka refers to the present-day
Ndyuka (or Okanisi); Ouwka refers to the area (in those days referred to
as ‘behind the Auka plantation’) where part of the Ndyuka Maroons were living
at the time. Willie (or Wíi) was a Saramaka, who lived among the Ndyuka at the time
when peace was made with the latter (in 1760) and who suggested the Saramaka
make a similar peace with the colonial government.

[19] This refers to an event
that took place during the first attempt at peace, in 1749, when three members
of the colonial delegation were killed.

[20] The fact that there does
not seem to be any connection between this reply on the part of the Saramaka
and the text of clause 15 is clarified by the Dutch text of the treaty, which
contains a Nota Bene, saying that at this point the Whites tried to talk
the Maroons into accepting an alternative gift instead of gun powder.

[21] These two military men
are referred to in other documents as Dörig and Van Rillertsz.

[22] Since at this time the
colonial government was not yet very well aware of the political organization
of the Saramaka (De Beet & Price 1982:204n3), some inconsistencies may be
present in this list. In our translation we have transcribed the names as they
are known from other historical sources. Additional information on the captains
and their villages is given by De Beet & Price (1982:29, 200-1, notes 2 and
3).

[23] The ethnonym Toefingas
(< ‘two fingers’) refers to a tiny group of Amerindians, who lived among the
Saramaka and whose members were said to have only two fingers on each hand and
two toes on each foot (De Beet & Price 1982:206n16). Hartsinck
(1770:811-2), where a brief description as well as two illustrations can be
found, claims they spoke ‘mostly Negro Portuguese’.

[24] The treaty also involved
a small number of Akurio Indians, who lived among the Matawai Maroons (De Beet
& Price 1982:206n16).

[25] For an interesting
discussion of these ‘customs’, see Bilby (1997).